Democracy   





It's coming through a hole in the air,  

from those nights in Tiananmen Square.  

It's coming from the feel  

that this ain't exactly real,  

or it's real, but it ain't exactly there.  

From the wars against disorder,  

from the sirens night and day,  

from the fires of the homeless,  

from the ashes of the gay:  

Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.  

It's coming through a crack in the wall;  

on a visionary flood of alcohol;  

from the staggering account  

of the Sermon on the Mount  

which I don't pretend to understand at all.  

It's coming from the silence  

on the dock of the bay,  

from the brave, the bold, the battered  

heart of Chevrolet:  

Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.  

 

It's coming from the sorrow in the street,  

the holy places where the races meet;  

from the homicidal bitchin'  

that goes down in every kitchen  

to determine who will serve and who will eat.  

From the wells of disappointment  

where the women kneel to pray  

for the grace of God in the desert here  

and the desert far away:  

Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.  

 

Sail on, sail on  

O mighty Ship of State!  

To the Shores of Need  

Past the Reefs of Greed  

Through the Squalls of Hate  

Sail on, sail on, sail on, sail on.  

 

It's coming to America first,  

the cradle of the best and of the worst.  

It's here they got the range  

and the machinery for change  

and it's here they got the spiritual thirst.  

It's here the family's broken  

and it's here the lonely say  

that the heart has got to open  

in a fundamental way:  

Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.  

 

It's coming from the women and the men.  

O baby, we'll be making love again.  

We'll be going down so deep  

the river's going to weep,  

and the mountain's going to shout Amen!  

It's coming like the tidal flood  

beneath the lunar sway,  

imperial, mysterious,  

in amorous array:  

Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.  

 

Sail on, sail on ...  

 

I'm sentimental, if you know what I mean  

I love the country but I can't stand the scene.  

And I'm neither left or right  

I'm just staying home tonight,  

getting lost in that hopeless little screen.  

But I'm stubborn as those garbage bags  

that Time cannot decay,  

I'm junk but I'm still holding up  

this little wild bouquet:  

Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.